I struggled to swallow as we took our seats. Brother Alpatcha began by speaking directly to Rafe, asking him where we were from, and about our experience with temples. Rafe was candid. He told him in no uncertain terms what he thought about temples. It didn't seem to faze Brother Alpatcha, and Ben was leaning forward listening to very word. Eventually Ben started asking questions about worthiness and what it would take to become temple worthy.

Brother Alpatcha answered calmly. His eyes were tender as he spoke of the Savior's forgiveness and the Plan of Happiness. He spoke quietly and concisely, and asked enough pertinent questions to ascertain Rafe and Ben were members of a touring band, and I was a tag along. He was so firmly convinced of the sanity of his words he didn't bother to apologize for anything. He told the boys what they needed to do. He looked up their church records and determined that neither of them were members in bad standing. Rafe snorted.

Brother Alpatcha caught that snort. "There is nothing, Brother Stryker, that you have done that is out of the reach of the Savior's ability to heal and forgive. Nothing. I testify to you that if you open your heart today, and allow the spirit of the Lord to remind you of the things you once knew in your childhood, if you will exercise just a particle of faith on this trip you are on, I promise you the answers to your questions will be granted to you, and one day you will feel worthy again."

Rafe was nodding. Ben was crying. I looked at Rafe's watch.

"Thank you so much, Brother Alpatcha, for taking your time to be with us today. I know your words are of great worth, and will sink into our hearts as we ponder them."

He leaned over and shook my hand. "Sister." He said. "May I ask about your beliefs?"

We were all standing, ready to leave.

"I'm a member of the church from Southern California. I'm active and have been all my life. I'm traveling with Rafe and Ben on their tour for some vacation time and to learn about this great nation."

"There are thirteen temples in Mexico, Sister. I hope you will stop and see as many of them as you can. Your trip will be enriched."

"Thank you."

"Brother Alpatcha." Ben blurted. "Why don't you and your wife come and sit with Aubrey at the concert tonight? I'd really like for you to come." He reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a little green pass. "Meet and greet at seven. Tell them you're my personal guests. Please come."

Brother Alpatcha took the card with a huge grin. "We'd love to come, Ben." He called him by his first name warmly, as if he were his son.

"There'll be food. Come hungry."

Rafe had his hand on my back, pushing me to get out the door, and I was shocked to hear Brother Alpatcha telling Ben he'd come to the concert tonight. I looked back over my shoulder in time to see Brother Alpatcha bring Ben in close for a hug.

My eyes filled instantly. I wiped at them quickly before it could get any worse, and we made our way out the doors.

It was already four and there was an urgency to get back. Rafe was quiet, with his hands hard on the steering wheel, while Ben talked about the things Brother Alpatcha had said. He said it gave him a lot of hope for him and Addie. He wanted to call her right then, so I told him to sit back and give her a call.

Then I looked over at Rafe who was staring stonily from the GPS to the street in front of him.

"What's on your mind, mister?"

His gaze slid sideways to meet mine. "You are infuriating."

"Really? Was it the museum, or the Catholic church, or the Mormon church?"

"All of it."

"Too much?"

"It was a lot to take in. But one not more than the others. It was all good. Don't get all worried, Aubrey."

"I'm not exactly worried." I said. "Just--"

"The Temple thing? You want to know what happened?"

"You know better. Why were you acting like that?"

He did know. But he literally looked like he was trapped there. He told me so.

"Trapped?"

"Condemned."

My eyes widened as we pulled in to the forum and cut across the parking lot to our buses.

"Why?" I was genuinely confused and he parked, leaning on the wheel.

"You've never done anything as bad as me, Aubrey. It's hard to think about needing forgiveness, or being kept out of the kingdom."

I was nodding, not trying to reassure him. My eyes grew misty, and my body was tense. He jumped out as Ben slid the door back and climbed down still talking to Addie. He came around and opened my door for me. I slid into his willing arms and lifted my lips to kiss him. It wasn't what he'd expected, I could tell by the initial hesitancy, and then the forceful way his arms came up to mold me to him, his leg insinuated between mine, his lips and tongue forcing inside. I sensed his eagerness to wipe the memory of our temple trip out of his mind. It had troubled him greatly. It had brought things to the fore perhaps that he'd rather not confront. But he was going to confront them, I thought as he plundered my willingness. I clutched him, feeling for once like we were in it together. I was part of this experience. I was experiencing it with him.

The temple had simply been an extra, an afterthought. I'd literally seen it off the highway and realized how badly I wanted to see it. It was beautiful, and the fact that Rafe had gone inside was amazing, and then the talk with Brother Alpatcha was even better. They both needed to hear the simple truth of the gospel. It was right there for them.

And something was right here for me.

I held him tight. Pressing myself to him as hard as I could, wanting suddenly not to let him go. I wanted to just be with him, share it all with him. I held the back of his head as he kissed me, I felt his hands on my sides, rubbing against me. I needed him.

This was the weirdest reaction ever.

We came apart, startled. His eyes were extremely intense. "Gees Aubrey."

I smiled, clapped my hand over my heart to still its frantic beating.

"That was unexpected."

"I don't know how else to express what's going on inside me."

His eyebrows rose. "What is going on inside you?"

I simply didn't know how to say it. "You."

He nodded and then grabbed me again, really holding me close to him, molding us so perfectly we felt like one person. His kisses were the most demanding, letting me know I was his, now and forever, I was his. If I kissed him a thousand times it wouldn't be enough.

We broke apart again, panting, grinning. Then he took my hand and led me to the bus. We got our clothes and then made it to the forum.

*******